NY state votes in favour of an e-cig ban in restaurants and bars

NY state votes in favour of an e-cig ban in restaurants and bars

Despite the fact that many studies keep emerging, suggesting that vaping is significantly safer than smoking, lawmakers in Albany voted to add vaping products to the state Clean Indoor Air Act, hence banning the devices from from bars and restaurants, just like regular cigarettes.

An article published last week on Newsday, pointed out that Sen. Kemp Hannon (R-Garden City), a prime sponsor of the legislation, called it a “long overdue bill. People have a right to a clean workplace and a clean restaurant.” However many health experts would disagree.

Is secondhand vapor exposure really a threat?

Data has shown that such harsh regulations and misinformation about e-cigarettes may be preventing millions of smokers from making the switch to the proven safer alternatives, possibly costing them their lives.

The California Department of Public Health has been carrying out air sampling in vape shops throughout the state, as part of its initiative to determine the health effects of secondhand vapor exposure. Although no official results have been published yet, last month Public Health Expert Dr. Michael Siegelshared a preview on his blog.

Air Samples were obtained from a relatively small and non-ventilated vape shop, where many of the employees and 13 customers were actively vaping while the sampling was taking place, hence what would be considered a situation presenting a high level of exposure to second-hand vapor. However, given all these unfavourable conditions, the results still reported no dangerous levels of exposure to any hazardous chemicals.

The danger in regulating e-cigs as tobacco products

Legislators and government agencies who are in favour of such bans boast about the fact that New York State has some of the harshest vaping regulations within the US. Yet many public health experts agree that regulating vaping products in the same as their combustible counterparts will prove detrimental. Data has shown that such harsh regulations and misinformation about the products may prevent millions of smokers from making the switch to the proven safer alternatives, possibly costing them their lives.